Pedro Sanchez He will be in China this week, where he will meet Xi Jinpingthe leader who broke the unwritten rules of leadership transfer within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to perpetuate himself at the head of the world’s largest dictatorship until his death. To do so, he resorted to purges and disappearances of friends and enemies, including assassinations. This traditional secrecy of the CCP has been further reinforced under Xi. In Asian culture, silences speak louder than noise.
Sánchez’s visit coincides with the recent publication of a biography of the enigmatic Chinese leader, The Red Emperor: Xi Jinping and his new ChinaWritten by veteran journalist Michael Sheridan, who began his career in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests of 1989, has witnessed Hong Kong’s comeback in 1997 and China’s rise as a superpower over the past three decades.
Xi Jinping, leader of the world’s second largest economy, was born in Beijing in 1953 into a revolutionary family, the so-called “Taizidang” or “Little Princes” of the red aristocracy. Xi belongs to one of the four recognized factions within the CCP, an enemy of the Chinese Youth League.The other two factions are the nostalgic Maoist Left and the cybernationalist Patriots.
Cover of “The Red Emperor: Xi Jinping and His New China”
Xi Jinping’s power is comparable to that of ancient Chinese dynasties. Among the facts that explain his psychology are his communist ancestry, the humiliation and fall of his father, and his own denigration during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). The Tiananmen massacre and the voracious corruption of the years of “opening and development” have also influenced his political vision, marked by paranoia and strategic calculation.
In the days before his ascension, Xi was seen as a gray, efficient bureaucrat who aroused neither animosity nor passion among the communist elites. This perception contrasted with the figure of his friend Bo Xilaia charismatic star who mobilized the masses in the south of the country. The CCP had learned to avoid charismatic leaders after the Cultural Revolution and the succession chaos that followed Mao’s death in 1976. The factions tacitly agreed to promote their protégés over two generations in order to maintain the balance of power and present an image of communist unity and coherence to the people.
The Fall of Bo
The first sign that something was wrong was precisely the scandalous and bizarre fall in 2012 of Bo Xilai, the CCP leader in prosperous Chongqing, who stirred up the masses with Maoist revolutionary songs.
In the early 1980s, Bo and Xi had partied together. When Xi’s then-wife Ke Xiaoming left him for London, the future president “began seeing more of his male friends, especially another restored ‘little prince’ named Bo Xilai, … famous for his wildness and hobbies.” To young women, Xi was awkward and boring, neither a flirt nor a master seducer, so His friends matched him with a woman to console him for the absence of his wife.. Xi abandoned her after a few months, fearing that the revelation of an extramarital affair would be detrimental to her,” the biography said, citing the Hong Kong publication. Xi Jinping and his lovers.
Thirty years later, the calculating Xi, who had already secured leadership through a quiet rise in various provinces, was strolling through Chongqing, applauding the theatrical red campaign of his comrade, the seductive Bo. They were united by their past, surviving the punishments suffered by their families, but their bloodlines were rivals. The mysterious death of British businessman Neil Heywood in a hotel in 2012, for which Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, his alleged lover, was indicted, deserved special attention. thrillerTragi-comically, Heywood travelled around China in a silver Jaguar with the number plate ‘007’.
The best reporting on this episode was the journalist’s book Jean Garnautone of the few correspondents with contacts among the Party elite. Bo is serving a life sentence in an elite maximum security prison.
Suspicious deaths and disappearances
Another of Xi’s rivals, Zhou Yongkangalso fell from grace in 2012. Zhou, who was the head of China’s security apparatus, was sentenced to life in prison for corruption. According to Sheridan, Zhou was “the most sinister man in China,” involved in the creation of the mass surveillance society and corruption in the oil sector. He is also suspected of involvement in the murder of his first wife.
Xi’s late prime minister Li Keqiangwas another of the allies who lost influence. Li, a protégé of the former president Hu Jintaobelonged to the Chinese Youth League faction, which faded as Xi consolidated power. Li died in 2023, a few months after leaving office, officially of a heart attack, but his death has been the subject of speculation.
The publisher’s case Gui MinhaiThe Hong Kong bookseller who revealed details about Xi’s private life was another dark episode. Gui, who holds a Swedish passport, disappeared in 2015 while on holiday in Thailand. He was kidnapped and taken to China via Cambodia, where he disappeared along with other retailers from his company.
In 2023, new cases of disappearances and disgraces shake the Xi regime. Li ShangfuDefense Minister Li disappeared from public view in August and was ousted two months later, accused of corruption in military procurement. Along with Li, two top generals also fell.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gang Qinis another figure who disappeared in 2023. Qin, a former ambassador to the United States and Xi’s protégé and ally, was removed from his post after several weeks of not appearing in public. His downfall was linked to an alleged extramarital affair with the journalist Fu Xiaotianwho is said to have links to British intelligence and factions hostile to Xi, and who had boasted on his social media about the possible child they were having together and their life of luxury.
Reaper’s Scissors
Although all of these purges have been justified as part of an anti-corruption campaign, many analysts, including Sheridan, see the moves as part of an anti-corruption campaign. Xi’s broader strategy to tighten control over the military and the CCP. The disappearance of senior officials, including the technology tycoon Jack Momraises concerns about the stability of the Chinese regime.
Sheridan’s book suggests that Xi pulled strings behind the scenes to orchestrate the downfall of his rivals, with some deaths attributed to accidents but arousing suspicion. For example, the case of Ling JihuaFormer chief of staff to Hu Jintao, whose political career ended after a car accident in 2012 that killed his son. Ling was sentenced to life in prison in 2016.
There is also speculation that some of Zhou Yongkang They suffered suspicious deaths during the campaign that led to their downfall. Xu CaihouVice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, died of cancer in 2015 while under investigation for corruption, avoiding a public trial. His death also raised suspicions.
Another emblematic case is that of Liu Zhijunrailway minister, sentenced to death in 2013, although his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. These cases suggest that some natural deaths may have been facilitated by political tensions and pressures from the regime of Xi Jinping, the authoritarian leader who presides over the destinies of 1.4 billion citizens and whose influence on the planet continues to grow.
